The present invention relates to wireless units including cellular telephones with IP capability. In particular, it relates to providing control over IP cellular phone units within a physical area such as a theater or restaurant.
The use of cellular telephones using various protocols including CDMA and GSM, as well as the use of other cellular devices such as PCS devices, is ubiquitous. These cellular units can cause unwelcome sounds in shared spaces causing annoyance. For example, phones may ring during a theater performance or persons may converse on a cell phone at a quiet restaurant.
Although sometimes a venue requests cellular phone users to turn off their phones while inside the space, such as by posting signs or making an announcement prior to a performance, this is not always effective. Sometimes the cell phone user wishes to comply with the request but forgets to turn off the phone, and sometimes the cell phone user ignores the request. Therefore, it is desirable for the operator of a restaurant, theater, or other space to obtain control over cellular units within their space.
Major initiatives have been taken by various entities, including the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), to push forward universal mobile systems, called third generation or 3G mobile systems. Standards for third generation wireless include W-CDMA and IMT-2000, which is a standard adopted by the ITU. IMT-2000 encompasses a variety of mobile or fixed terminals (cellular phone units) that can provide phone service, web access, video teleconferencing, and other services. The mobile terminals are linked by one or more radio links to various telecommunications services and networks (e.g. PSTN/ISDN/IP) and other services. Information about IMT-2000 is available from various sources, including www.itu.org, www.3gpp.org, and www.3gpp2.org.
An overall architecture for a wireless IP network architecture based on various protocols has been described in the Internet Engineering Task Force's Wireless IP Network Architecture based on IETF Protocols (Tom Hiller, ed.), IETF TR45.6 Ballot (Feb. 4, 2000), which is hereby incorporated by reference. This document describes the packet data services to be provided, and sets forth the packet data system architecture for a third generation wireless system based on IMT-2000. The described system is designed to have general capabilities that match those outlined in the ITU IMT-2000 requirements document Q.1701. IETF protocols are employed wherever possible to minimize the number of new protocols required.
An example wireless IP network architecture is shown in FIG. 1A. A user uses mobile station 10 to connect to Radio Network 20 (also called a Radio Access Network, or “RAN”) via an air interface, and through the Radio Network 20, gains access to a service provider network. Only one service provider network may be accessed by the mobile station 10 at a time, and the service provider network may be the user's home access provider or if the user is roaming, the visited access provider network. Existing air interface procedures are used for access mobility management, including interactions with Visitor Location Registers (VLR) 32 and Home Location Registers (HLR) 34. The HLR 34 stores access service profiles that contain information about access service parameters, which are cached in the VLR 32 while the mobile station 10 is registered in the service provider access network. An open interface, known as the R-P interface, is defined between the Radio Network 20 and the Packet Data Serving Node (PDSN) 30. The PDSN 30 interacts with the local or visited AAA (Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting) server 36 and with other servers using IP protocols within the IP Network 38.
An example Radio Network 20 is shown in FIG. 1B. It can include multiple base stations 21 that communicate with a switching center 22, or other central facility, and can for example be a CDMA2000 RAN. Each of the base stations 21 covers a geographic area as known in the art of cellular communications. A mobile station 10, which can be a cellular telephone device/personal communication device/mobile terminal, can receive communications from, and transmit communication to, a base station 21.
The coming availability of third generation mobile terminals with their multifunction capabilities and enhanced ease of roaming will increase the presence of such multifunction personal communications devices in everyday life. The attendant intrusions into shared spaces will also increase annoyances such as those caused by cell phones ringing, video teleconferences occurring, the web being surfed, games being played over the web, etc.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a way to restrict use of third generation mobile terminals, including those with cell phone capability, in designated spaces.